The U.S.’s largest automaker plans to launch dozens of electric vehicle models over the next several years as it transitions away from conventional, gasoline-powered cars.
This week, General Motors provided more details about how it plans to power them.
The company unveiled three new motors for its Ultium electric vehicle platform at a conference on Michigan’s Mackinac Island.
Two of the motors — a 180-kilowatt front-drive motor and a 255-kW rear- and front-drive motor — are permanent magnet motors designed to reduce the company’s reliance on rare earth materials. The third is a 62-kW all-wheel drive assist motor.
All three, the company said, were designed and calibrated in-house as a scalable product family sharing design principles, as well as tooling and manufacturing. Up to three separate motors can be used in a single EV, and they can be configured to enable a wide range of vehicle types.
The first vehicle that will be built with them, the 2022 GMC Hummer EV, will feature three 255-kW motors.
GM added that the software behind the new motors can be reused in numerous applications, which would give the company faster times-to-market and enable rapid electric vehicle expansion. GM President Mark Reuss told the conference that the company’s hardware and software vertical integration gives the company control over its own destiny and a "significant competitive advantage.”
The Detroit automotive giant has set a goal of ending the sale of internal-combustion passenger vehicles by 2035.
